This Little Girl
by amandahayley
Summary: Cato and Clove before the 74th annual Hunger Games. Watch as their relationship blossoms into a love that is destined for doom. Or is it?
1. Chapter 1

I wake up and the day feels as ordinary as ever, except it's not. Today is probably the most important day of the entire year. The reaping. It's when two children, a boy and a girl ages twelve to eighteen have the honor of being chosen to represent District 2 in the annual Hunger Games.

Being from District 2 gives us twelve to eighteen year olds a huge advantage in the arena. We train from age twelve to one day volunteer to go into the games. The tributes from Districts 1 and 2 are most often called the "careers" by the kids from the other districts. That's because with us, if you volunteer, most of the time you come home victorious. For the other, less fortunate districts however, that's not the case.

The Hunger Games are still very dangerous though, even for a "career". One boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts of Panem are chosen to fight to death in an arena. The games are basically to show the districts that the capitol is in charge. About 74 years ago, there was a rebellion in Panem. The capitol contained the riots in districts one through twelve, but district thirteen was obliterated. They show ruins of district thirteen to try and scare us I guess, but I'm not afraid of anything.

My older brother Condor is already waiting for me in the kitchen. He's very overprotective, but he has to be, since our parents couldn't care less about us.

"Hey Clove, are you ready for another reaping?" Condor has been training for the games since he was twelve, but he wont volunteer because of me. I keep telling him that I'm fourteen now and that I can take care of myself, but he just tunes me out. Condor doesn't approve of me training for the games, but he knows I was born to fight. I'm as handy with a knife as he is with a spear, and everyone in town knows not to mess with my brother because of his skills.

"Who do you think will volunteer this year?" I ask.

"I dunno," Condor mumbles. "I think I heard Zane saying he wanted to." Then, Condor says with a sorrowful look on his face, "Gem said she wanted to volunteer too."

Gem is my brother's "girlfriend" although they're not official or anything. They're more like best friends, but slightly romantic.

"Well don't worry, if she gets picked, I'll volunteer in her place," I say jokingly, but Condor has a grave look on his face.

"Don't even joke about that Clove. It's not funny."

I don't know what he would be more upset about. Gem getting picked and going into the games or me volunteering in her place.

I push the thought away. It's stupid to think about the reaping before it happens.

I put on an old dress of mine that my mother bought for me a few years back. We're not poor exactly, but we're certainly not rich. Mother had to trade her pearl earrings for this very simple lavender dress, but she was so proud when she came home and showed it to me. I put my long black hair into one braid going down the length of my back and then proceeded to twist it into a bun at the nape of my neck.

The alarm goes off a few minutes later, signaling the start of the reaping. I have a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I let it go. No reason to be nervous, I still have four more years of training until I'm ready to volunteer.

Gem meets up with Condor outside our house and Condor says he'll catch up with me after the reaping. I'm used to being alone, but this time Condor's leaving makes me anxious. I kick a rock on the floor and it slams into a nearby tree with surprising force.

"Nice kick," a blonde haired boy says to me with a chuckle.

"Thanks" I mumble, but not before looking up. I catch the boys eye and we're just standing there staring at each other until he says, "Uhmm I guess I'll see you at the reaping?" and turns and walks away.

I recognized the blonde haired boy from the training center; he goes in around the same time as me. He's pretty skilled with swords I think.

The peacekeepers take a sample of our blood and lead us into sections with other kids our age. I recognize almost everyone around me, but wouldn't consider any of them to be my friends.

Suddenly, an overly excited man from the capitol walks up to the microphone. He's dressed in a bright purple suit that matches his lavender hair. His face seems to have been altered several times. The man's name is Roranikus Finch and he's going to select the male and female tributes. First, Roranikus introduces himself and they play a video that explains why we have the hunger games. Afterwards, Roranikus says it's time to select the tributes. "I shall select the male tribute first," he says. That's how it always works in District 2. Men are the most important.

"Hmm… Let's see. Who do we have here? Ahh. Cato Ibsen" Roranikus announces. "Cato Ibsen" he booms.

All of a sudden, this massive blonde haired boy walks to the front of the stage with his head held high and proud.

"Wow, we'll definitely win with him representing our district," I thought to myself.

Roranikus clears his throat and walks over to the girls bowl. Before I even have time to think, he pulls out a slip and reads the name: Gem Lovehorn.

After that, everything is kind of a blur. I remember finding Condor's face in the crowd, seeing the pained look on his face. I remember my mouth opening and the words, "I volunteer" squeak out in the bravest voice I could muster. Then I remember my brother running toward me and screaming.

Before I knew it, I was up on stage accepting congratulations from Roranikus. I tried to look proud, because everyone in the audience figured I volunteered because I wanted to honor my district, not because I was saving someone else. I couldn't look weak when the other tributes watched our district's reaping. So I stick out my hand and actually get a good look at the male tribute. It's the blonde boy from before the reaping! I can tell he recognizes me too, because he quickly pulls his hand away and his facial expression hardens.

Roranikus goes the microphone and says one last thing before the end of the reaping. "Good luck to the tributes of District 2! And may the odds be ever in your favor."

Well, it seems as though for me as well as Cato Ibsen, the odds are most definitely not in our favor.

**Author's note: This is my first Clato fanfic and I loved the pairing so much that I really wanted to write something about them before the games. Let me know if I should continue writing, reviews would be lovely!**


	2. Chapter 2

Roranikus brings the male tribute, Cato, and me into one of the rooms in our justice building. Then, Cato goes through another door and I'm left alone. A peacekeeper opens my door to reveal Condor and Gem.

"You have 10 minutes to say your goodbyes," the peacekeeper says.

Suddenly, I'm in Condor's arms. Even Gem is hugging me. In those few seconds, I actually felt like I was safe at home again, before the reaping. Before I knew I was going into an arena where I was most likely going to die.

"What in the world were you thinking?" Condor yells at me.

"I don't know, okay? I saw the look on your face when they called Gem's name so my first instinct was to make you feel better" I replied.

"But don't you see Clove? It's not better! Gem's been training for years. She could have had a chance at winning. I know you're good with knives but Clove, is that enough to keep you alive? I can't lose you," Condor says, almost sobbing.

I reply by placing my hand in his and pulling him into a hug. I know he doesn't have faith in me, but I'll show him. I'll be the victor and I'll come home, he'll see.

All too soon the peacekeeper is coming in to take Condor and Gem away. Condor is screaming and thrashing his arms. My brother's a big guy, so it takes two peacekeepers to get him out. I want to cry so badly, to just curl up into a ball and forget that this is happening, to forget that I have to kill other children, to forget that I might not come home, but I know I can't. I have to stay strong for not only myself, but for Condor as well.

I hear the door open again and I'm shocked to find my mom and dad standing in the doorway. My mom's eyes are red and puffy from crying and my dad is just kind of standing there with a dazed look on his face. Even though I despise them both, I accept their hugs and stiffly reassure them that I'm going to be okay.

Thankfully, Roranikus walks in followed by Cato. He says it's time for him to take us to the train that will bring us to the capitol.

Once we get to the train I can't help but gasp. Bowls made of crystal. Velvet chairs. Piles of different, colorful, decadent foods imported from the capitol. I have never seen anything this beautiful in my life.

Roranikus walks us over to a couch where Cato and I sit a little too close for comfort.

"You two can call me Rory. I just wanted to say congratulations to both of you. It is a very big honor to represent your district in the Hunger Games," Roranikus says to us.

"Thank you Rory," Cato says in a sincere tone.

Cato is good looking. No, he's stunning. Golden blonde hair, eyes the color of the ocean, and he's extremely muscular. I'm sure all the girls back home can't get enough of him.

Suddenly I feel a pang in my chest. I don't know where it came from, but all I know is that I want to stop. It feels as if ten knots just tied in my stomach. My palms start to sweat and I begin to wonder about how I look in this dress. I'm not extremely pretty, but people have told me I have nice features.

I try and get my mind off Cato and back to the games.

"So Rory, where are our mentors?" Since our district has so many victors, they switch mentors every year. There is one for the female and another for the male tribute. Most people don't want the other person from their district to know their strengths and weaknesses, but for the careers it doesn't really make a difference. They like to show off, so everyone basically knows their strong points.

Rory goes to find our mentors and leaves Cato and me sitting on the small couch. We sit in silence for a good two minutes until Cato says, "Knives, right?"

At first I just stare at him because I don't really understand his question and because the first time we had ever spoken was this morning.

"Huh?" is all I can choke out.

Cato laughs a beautiful, hearty laugh and says, slower this time, "You're good with knives, right? You train at the same place I do. People say you never miss."

If I was shocked before, now I'm just in disbelief. Cato knows me? He talked to people about me before the reaping?

"Yea, I'm pretty good I guess," I stammer. "I've had a knack for knives my whole life."

"That's cool," he says. "I have a thing for swords. That's what I trained with."

It's nice talking to Cato. He's not at all what I expected him to be like- full of anger, ruthless, a killing machine. He seems almost… nice.

Finally, Rory comes back with two people, a man and a woman. "Hello, I'm Donatella and this is Rafael," the woman says. "We're going to be your mentors for this years games."

"Okay, so what are some tactics we should use in the games to increase our chance of survival?" I say eagerly.

"Whoa, whoa, we'll get to that," Rafael says. "But right now, we just wanted to introduce ourselves. While you're in the games, we're your only connection to the outside world. We'll be the ones sending you parachutes from your sponsors that could be the deciding factor between life and death."

Suddenly, Cato sees something in the window that makes him jump up.

"Guys look! It's the capitol!" Cato says.

The image of a beautiful modern city is gone in a flash and we're in a tunnel. We pull into the train station and see hundreds of people standing outside waving at us and screaming. Cato puts on a mean face for them to try and look tough, which makes them go crazy.

"Come on Clove, they love us! If we want to get sponsors, we better start now," Cato says to me.

"He's right you know," Donatella says knowingly.

As I get up and walk over to the window where Cato is standing, I realize that if I win, Cato will be dead. I might not necessarily be the one to kill him, but he'll be dead.

And the fact that I don't want that to happen scares me more than dying myself.

**Author's Note: Let me know what you guys thought! Reviews are always lovely! (:**


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